For 50 years America marshaled the forces of freedom with the hope that someday the Russian people could gain a chance to determine their future by choosing their leaders. Now they are about to vote in the first presidential election in Russia's history as an independent country. Far from fearing the result, we should have confidence that in the long run democracy in Russia can only benefit America and the world. Whichever candidate wins in June, our task will be the same: to keep America safe, and to consolidate the gains for peace and freedom made possible by the cold war's end. That is what President Clinton has sought to do with bipartisan support since 1993. As a result, every American is more secure. Consider the facts: Thousands of nuclear warheads, built to destroy America, have themselves been destroyed. Those that remain in Russia no longer target our homes. Three of the four nuclear states that succeeded the Soviet Union have abandoned nuclear weapons. We are working with the Yeltsin government and Russia's neighbors to keep nuclear materials from terrorists and rogue states, and to realize President Kennedy's dream of a total ban on nuclear testing. The space race has been eclipsed by our joint construction of an international space station. Twelve new states have replaced the Soviet empire, including an independent Ukraine that is building a strong partnership with the U.S. and Europe. Russian troops no longer occupy either Central Europe or, thanks to President Clinton's personal diplomacy, the Baltic states. Instead, they are serving alongside us to bring peace to Bosnia. While we do not always agree with Russian policies, today not every difference is a crisis. We can manage our disagreements constructively without the threat of nuclear confrontation. After three years of intensive involvement with the Russians, I am convinced that the safer world we are building is more likely to endure if market democracy sinks deeper roots in Russian soil. We should not lose sight of the progress already made: Russians are now empowered by the ballot and by free enterprise, informed by an independent press and no longer cut off from the world by minefields and barbed wire. Over half their economy is in private hands, guided increasingly by the laws of the market and the will of the consumer. The longer this process continues, the harder it will be for any Russian leader to restore totalitarian rule.

ABOVE: Secretary of State Warren Christopher
Terry Ashe for TIME